Ian McKellen Honors His Friend Patrick Stewart: ‘The Most Respected and Beloved Actor of His Generation’ — SkimNews
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- Patrick Stewart died Wednesday at age 86, prompting Ian McKellen to post a tribute that called him “the most respected and beloved actor of his generation.”
- Ian McKellen said he and Stewart first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago—not in the same production—and remained longtime friends who appeared at each other’s premieres as two of British theater’s leading global ambassadors.
- Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen became inseparably linked to general audiences as the frenemies Magneto and Professor X in Marvel’s X-Men film series, and the two shared the 2009 West End stage in Waiting for Godot.
- Patrick Stewart accepted the Jean-Luc Picard role in Star Trek: The Next Generation in the late ’80s after McKellen urged him to weigh his U.K. stage career before risking years in Hollywood; the part solidified his Hollywood presence and made him a household name.
- Patrick Stewart used his international celebrity in Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, London’s West End and Broadway; McKellen said audiences marveled at his classical-stage range.
- Patrick Stewart never forsook his Yorkshire origins after making America his adopted home; McKellen praised his “stern honesty” and called his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University his proudest achievement.
- Avengers: Doomsday will bring McKellen and Stewart together onscreen for a final time in December, with both reprising their X-Men roles as Magneto and Professor X.
Why it matters: At 86, Stewart’s death leaves December’s release of *Avengers: Doomsday* as his and McKellen’s final joint screen appearance, with both reprising Magneto and Professor X. For audiences, McKellen’s tribute places Stewart’s Yorkshire roots, classical stage work and Huddersfield University chancellorship alongside his franchise fame.
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